Not as good as the first one, which the New Orleans Hornets coveted and submitted to the NBA office for approval. But a good one when considering Chris Paul’s value began to plunge as soon as Commissioner David Stern, and the 29 league owners who combined to buy the Hornets last season, decided they would determine what was or wasn’t a suitable swap for New Orleans’ four-time All-Star point guard.

Paul awoke Wednesday with the Hornets and went to bed with the Clippers, traded to Los Angeles — along with a couple of future second-round picks — for Clippers guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and a 2012 unprotected first-round pick that the Clippers got from the Minnesota Timberwolves, a pick the league office so adamantly coveted in the swap that we all should be disappointed if the player doesn’t become the next Magic, Bird or Jordan.

For that matter, there should be some letdown if Aminu doesn’t become a starter (based on merit rather than on trade) and if Kaman, who’s in the final year of his contract, doesn’t give the Hornets a little something more than the former All-Star gave the Clippers last season, when he played in just 32 games, with 15 starts.

But considering the Hornets’ options were dwindling, they’ll take it. It’s a lot better than the nothing they would have pocketed if Paul hadn’t been moved.

The concern is that the only known commodities are Paul, one of the 10 best players in the league, and Gordon, a rising star (16.1 points per game as a rookie, 16.9 the next season, 22.3 last season) who has two years remaining on his rookie contract, at $3.831 million this year and $5.138 million as a qualifying offer the next.

So while there’s relief that the Hornets removed the cloud that has been the Paul Stall, and joy that the NBA office might now go back to doing whatever it is that it does that doesn’t involve scratching its itch to be a general manager, the desire to backflip over this deal hasn’t yet bubbled to the top.

Yes, there’s “potential” involved, and plenty of it. The Hornets could be younger, more athletic and more dynamic, and the future could be bright enough to light the New Orleans Arena for years.

But tell me: When was the last time that potential paid the freight?

In other words, to take a step back only is palatable if the ensuing steps forward are delectable, and we have no idea if they will be.

True, we don’t know if the three-team deal that was axed by Stern and the league office for “basketball reasons” would have made the Hornets relevant in the Western Conference, either. We don’t know if Houston forward Luis Scola, the Lakers’ Lamar Odom, Houston guards Kevin Martin and Goran Dragic and a first-round pick would’ve vaulted the Hornets into contention in the Southwest Division or if the reported fear of the league and the Hornets’ 29 co-owners, that New Orleans was taking on too much age and money, would come back and bite.

We do know that New Orleans wasn’t allowed to acquire three productive veterans who could have started (Scola, Odom and Martin) and a good backup point guard. And that if a team with those additions had proven to be scrappy and playoff-bound, no one would’ve been surprised.

And that a combination of those veterans could’ve been packaged after the season and an upgrade, or overhaul, could have commenced if Hornets General Manager Dell Demps and Coach Monty Williams didn’t like the chemistry or direction.

Gordon, the jewel of this trade class, will be the scorer at shooting guard that the Hornets haven’t had since the last time Glen Rice suited up in Charlotte, N.C. He’ll be the face of the franchise because his production demands that kind of attention.

He has to continue on his upward arc, drag Aminu along with him and hope Kaman drafts along — and the pick has to be a hit in 2012.

That’ll make this haul above good, better than the one that was spiked, and it’ll keep the Hornets relevant for awhile.

But only if all that potential actually pans out.

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John Deshazier can be reached at jdeshazier@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3410.